The PostEurop General Assembly returned to the exciting city of Belgrade, Serbia, for the first time since April 2012, once again hosted by the Public Enterprise Post of Serbia.

PostEurop and our host were pleased to welcome 160 delegates from the PostEurop membership as well as observers and stakeholders to the event.

On this occasion, Mrs. Elena Fernández-Rodríguez, Chairwoman of the PostEurop Board of Directors, officially opened the General Assembly (GA) and invited Mr. Dejan Ristic, Minister of Information and Telecommunication, and Mrs. Jelena Begovic, Minister of Science, Technology, Development and Innovation from the Government of Serbia, as well as Mr. Zoran Andjelkovic, Acting Director of JP Pošta Srbije to deliver their welcome speeches to delegates respectively.

In his speech, Mr. Ristic focussed on the entrepreneurial spirit of the post and its resilience in dealing with the various types of evolution throughout history as well as the key role it plays in communication in Serbia. Mrs. Begovic emphasized on the key technological developments and innovation which have taken place in Serbia in recent years. Equally important is the sustainable impact of these technological developments, and she stressed that we should always take into account the UN sustainable goals as a responsible sector.

Mr. Andjelokovic warmly welcomed everyone to Belgrade on behalf of JP Pošta Srbije to this event which saw months of preparation. He emphasized that the General Assembly and Business Forum was the perfect setting to learn, network, exchange best practices and look towards progress as an industry together.

Mr. Masahiko Metoki, Director General of the Universal Postal Union also joined us live from Bern, wishing us a successful meeting despite his busy schedule as UPU celebrates its 150^th anniversary.

After the opening remarks, Mr. Botond Szebeny, Secretary General, together with Mrs. Elena Fernandez-Rodríguez and Mr. Oliver Kaliski, Chairwoman and Vice-Chair of the PostEurop Board of Directors respectively, formally launched the statutory proceedings of the 2024 General Assembly.

The points raised and decisions made at the PostEurop General Assembly help to further shape the future activities of the Association.

Key decisions

Some of the important decisions taken included Members’:

approval to exclude JSC Russian Post and RUE Belpochta from the membership of PostEurop due to the non-payment of their membership fees;
approval and endorsement of phase 2 of the Association’s Strategy Review and its next steps;
Approval of the 2023 Financial results and audit report;
Update on the 2024 Financial performance.
Endorsement of the 2024 Progress reports and 2025 Business plan.
Approval of the 2025 Budget proposal and the membership’s contribution.

Updates from Ukrposhta

PostEurop was privileged to have Mr. Igor Smelyansky, CEO of Ukrposhta, join the GA online to give delegates an update on Ukrposhta’s tremendous business efforts, daily operational challenges and exceptional teamwork to continuously ensure that Ukrainian citizens have access to postal services, even during a prolonged crisis.

2025 General Assembly

The next General Assembly will take place in Tirana, Albania, as approved last year. Mr. Enian Sina, Deputy CEO of Posta Shqiptare formally invited all delegates to Tirana, Albania, on behalf of Posta Shqiptare.

The General Assembly officially concluded with the traditional gala dinner celebration. JP Pošta Srbije welcomed all delegates to the famous Topčiderac restaurant.

Before the evening ended, the announcements of the PostEurop 2024 Innovation, CSR and EUROPA Stamps Awards winners were made and a farewell ceremony was held for Isabel Tavares of CTT Portugal Post and Thomas Baldry of DHL Deutsche Post, celebrating their significant contribution to the activities of PostEurop, also as former Board members.

2024 Business Forum on Artificial Intelligence

Delegates were welcomed the following day by Mr Mihailo Jovanovic, Director of Office for IT and E-government of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, to a half day Business Forum. This session focussed on understanding and exploring the innovative potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for postal operators. In this context, Mr. Jovanovic spoke passionately about the multifaceted development and investment which the government of Serbia has made on AI. Our guest speaker, Mr. Stefan Badža, Advisor to the President of the National Assembly of Serbia also further elaborated this point.

With that, our keynote speaker, Dexter Thillien, Lead analyst for technology and telecoms at the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) continued to broaden our minds and expanded on the global and geopolitical developments of the state of AI and Generative AI, discussing how regulations and its impact affect work and the environment. A CEO panel featuring Mr. Levan Chikvaidze, CEO of Georgian Post, Mrs. Þórhildur Ólöf Helgadóttir, CEO of Islandspóstur and Mr. Stefan Badža and moderated by Mrs Elena Fernández-Rodríguez addressed questions raised about AI investments, regulations and its challenges moving forward.

After a short networking coffee break, the Innovation Forum team led by Mr. Carlos Bhatt, Chair of the Innovation Forum of PostEurop and Vice-Chairs Thierry Golliard (Swiss Post) and Sophie Desier-Biehler (La Poste Group) moderated a roundtable session on Generative AI. The speakers captivated the audience with real-life case studies from CTT Portugal Post, Swiss Post, PostNord, La Poste Groupe, Mily Tech and Aftership — demonstrating how AI can drive efficiency and innovation.

The event concluded with gratitude towards the organising teams of PE Post of Serbia and PostEurop for making the event a success. We hope to see everyone next year in Albania.

Highlights of the 2024 PostEurop General Assembly & Business Forum

The PostEurop General Assembly returned to the exciting city of Belgrade, Serbia, for the first time since April 2012, once again hosted by the Public Enterprise Post of Serbia.